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Topic:
The Catcher in the Rye??
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MushroomHead
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 12:51am
Subject:
The Catcher in the Rye??
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I personally have never read it, but an awful lot of people I know have and it always seems to crop up with the phrase "best book ever" or similar. Whenever people metion it, it alwaays strikes me that it could be the sort of book that people that loved the matrix - "best film ever" people - would like, or reservoir dogs lovers even more so, not for similar themes but for the reason that it is I guess a "cult" book. It is a book that people can say they have read and sound "intellectual" even if they don't really enjoy reading, it seems to be the book that if you end up in a converstion about books, if you mention it you won't be left out anymore and everyone will agree and accept you "yes, yes, great book, blah blah blah".
This isn't meant as an insult to people that have read it or enjoyed, it is just as i said that I haven't read it and am hoping for other peoples opinions on it, and it seemed that this new forum was a good place to ask.
The above is mainly personal speculation about the book and if there are points that are unclear i'm happy to explain further if required.
So what's your opionion on the book?
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"My Satan sense is tingling"
Obi-Wan's Apparition:"Am I double special because I have two spaces?"
Sapient on admins: "a collective organization who is power-hungry and oppressive"
Vertical: "the administration is just a bunch of ban-happy fools"
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Tayschrenn
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 12:55am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I enjoyed reading it (and yeah, I actually did read it, they made us in School  ). But it doesn't rate that highly on my Fav. Books lists.
I think you are right that alot of people read it and to an extent, like it, because it is so well-known as a good book. Often when that happens, people come with a pre-conceived opinion that it is going to be good and so they read it as being good, even if it was normally given to them under a different title, it might not have got the same reaction.
Hell knows I am exactly the same, especially with Star Wars *innocent smile*
Tayschrenn
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donteventhinkaboutit
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 12:58am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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Lots of teenagers think it's the BEST BOOK EVAR because they empathize with Holden Caulfield's angst. I think it's a good book, but not one of the best ever.
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MushroomHead
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 1:04am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
- Date Edited:
6/10/02 1:05am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
MushroomHead
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EDIT: worthless blarr.
-----signature-----
"My Satan sense is tingling"
Obi-Wan's Apparition:"Am I double special because I have two spaces?"
Sapient on admins: "a collective organization who is power-hungry and oppressive"
Vertical: "the administration is just a bunch of ban-happy fools"
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Pallas-Athena
Title: TFN Fan Fiction Archive Editor
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 1:05am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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Changed my life.
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Do you ever get bored and find yourself scrolling down a thread just to read the signatures? 
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BOBAFETISH
Registered:
Feb '01
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 3:09am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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When I read it, I thought it was a beautiful slice of life as told by a sociopath. I loved it.
I think that's why people go and kill people after reading it- it is so well written that they identify with the character, and feel that their feelings of being disconnected and above everything else are valid, because someone else felt as they did.So they think they are not crazy, and go and do something...
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Darth_Asabrush
Registered:
May '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 3:50am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I have read the book several times. As it goes it's a nice story. My personal opinion is that it is over rated and too many people place obscure connections with other events to it.
A good book but not a great book. However, I would advise everyone to read it. If you haven't then you are missing out on an experience.
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Scepticism is the beginning of Faith
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BOBAFETISH
Registered:
Feb '01
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 3:59am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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Unless you are a sociopath...then, um, it's a boring book and you shouldn't read it  .
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Lord Bane died for your inaction.
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Darth_Asabrush
Registered:
May '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 4:44am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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er...agreed 
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sultan_of_agrabah
Registered:
Apr '02
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 4:48am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I read the book, and it is one of my favorite books. I can really understand why so many people go crazy over this book, it's because they empathize with Holden. When you read the book(for me atleast)you feel like he's right next to you, in the book it even says something like "I can tell you more, but I am not really in the mood" It's the first book I read that tells a story that way, I loved this book. If you haven't read it, go read it.
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Fat is in the eye of the beholder
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Kadue
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 7:51am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I'm one of those people forced to read it for school, and it looks like I'll be going against the grain here.
I really did not like this book, and have little idea why so many people liked it. In terms of story-telling, the plot really went nowhere, and while a lot of people say that they empathised with Holden, and could understand what he went through, I couldn't. He struck me as entirely uninteresting, and I could not like him as a character. I've read a lot of other works that have had a greater impact than this has.
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Darth_Asabrush
Registered:
May '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 8:46am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I'd agree with that summary. However, I'd advise people to read it.
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Scepticism is the beginning of Faith
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Nrf-Hrdr
Registered:
Aug '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 8:54am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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Complaining that the plot doesn't go anywhere is missing the point a little - the book is really all about the characterisation. If your mind works in an even remotely similar way to Holden's, you'll probably love the thing to death.
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Mastadge
Title:
Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jun '99
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 8:54am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I didn't not like it, nor did I like it. It was quickly forgotten and pretty pointless in my opinion.
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"This will be our reply to violence:
To make music more intensely,
More beautifully,
More devotedly than ever before."
- Leonard Bernstein
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Kadue
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 9:09am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I know that the book is supposed to be about the characterisations, but I found the characterisations to be flat, and not exactly all that well done.
Besides which, to be called a great piece of literature, or even a good one, there has to be a semblance of a plot to it. Just enough to help the characterisations along, and as I've said, there wasn't one there.
But I do agree with Asa that you should read it. I don't agree with what a lot of people say about it, but I only came to that conclusion by reading it.
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Dagger
Registered:
Nov '99
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Date Posted:
6/10/02 9:23am
Subject:
RE: The Catcher in the Rye??
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I think its best use is to pick up chicks:
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